Philly Front Office

Let’s Lionel Hutz this headline for a second:

• Phillies Dream Big!
• Phillies, dream big?
• Phillies dream, big.
• Phillies, dream big.

It’s not the first one, we are all thinking it’s the second one, and I don’t even understand the 3rd one. I want to talk about the last one. Any time you hear the term “all-in”, that means no one, not even Andrew Painter, is untouchable. Are the Phillies all-in? Probably not. What does that even look like?

What Do We Need?

Anyone who has watched even a single Phillies game knows we need at least one outfielder and at least one bullpen arm, and probably two of both. The rest of the diamond is fine enough even if not ideal, but these positions are gaping holes in the dam that need to be plugged.

The outfield is abysmal. Just assume Castellanos is staying in right and not going anywhere. Flipping him isn’t realistic. That leaves Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler, neither of whom can hit a lefty. Johan Rojas is a late inning defensive replacement come playoff time. That means we could get by with two righty platoons but really need an everyday guy and a platoon.

Outside of Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering (and probably Tanner Banks too) the bullpen is a mess. None of those guys are closers either. Losing Jose Alvarado was disastrous. We need a lights out guy in the 9th and a fireman, preferably a lefty. Out of 5 needed pen arms, we probably have a 3, 4, and 5. Let’s go get them.

Who Can We Trade?

In real life, the team is not trading Andrew Painter. I think they should be planning to deploy him as a reliever right now, but that seems to be a taboo thought around the organization. Why use your talent where it’s needed right? I won’t just throw his name around anywhere, but only when we need to break the glass in case of emergency.

After Painter, Aiden Miller has the next most value in the league. He is an up-and-coming shortstop whose bat is going to take him places. He isn’t breaking out, but more like holding his own in AA as a just-turned 21 year old. Miller is considered a Top-30 prospect in baseball by most outlets.

Justin Crawford is the polarizing one. He is also 21 but crushing AAA right now. His .339 average is made up almost entirely of singles. He is fast and is expected to play a plus CF. The only reason he isn’t in the majors right now is because he’s a lefty (although he’s batting .400 against lefties this season).

We all just got familiar with Mick Abel who after falling off all the prospects lists has re-established himself as someone with value. Eduardo Tait is an 18-year-old catcher with serious power. Aroon Escobar is 20 and small but shot up prospect lists by peppering Florida State league outfields with extra base hits before his recent promotion. Other names like Keaton Anthony, Gabriel Rincones, and last year’s top picks Dante Nori and Griffin Burkholder could have some value as well.

Lastly, the Phillies may try to offset any salary coming in by offloading the deals of Max Kepler (1/$10m) and Taijuan Walker (2/$36m). Surprisingly, Walker may have some value if a team is really in the need of starting pitching.

Let’s Go All In

Steven Kwan and Emmanuel Clase – Cleveland Guardians: This prospective trade has been in the social media sphere today. Kwan is a hitting savant who is regularly up around .300, has doubles power, and walks about as much as he strikes out. The Phillies desperately need someone like that. He also plays a solid left field. If acquired, he would probably lead off with Trea Turner dropping down to second. He still has 2 more years of control left.

Clase has been the best reliever in baseball during the last few regular seasons but is showing some decline after getting obliterated in the playoffs last year. Still, he would be the guy in the 9th no questions asked. He has 1-3 years of control left with his reasonable club options.

The Guardians just lost 10 in a row and are plummeting in a bad American League. They don’t NEED to trade any of these guys which puts them in a great position to sell. They would definitely want Painter for these guys, but I don’t think there is enough star potential here to go all in with. If you can get them both for Miller and Crawford, that would make the Phillies neck and neck with the favorites to win the World Series. Throw in old friend and resurgent bullpen arm Kolby Allard and we might have a deal.

Byron Buxton and Jhoan Duran – Minnesota Twins: Buxton just got hurt…again. Despite him still being a great CF and hitting right handed, he can’t be the guy you go all in for. He just isn’t reliable enough to trade Painter. Duran has been maybe the best reliever in baseball this year while throwing 101+ with wicked movement. It’s a shame that there isn’t another prospect between Crawford and Miller because this package is in need of that kind of prospect, a Top-50ish guy along with Crawford and Tait would be great for this package. Instead, they are going to want Miller and Crawford and probably another guy mentioned above like Escobar. The Phillies would be taking on 3/$45m in Buxton money going forward. With no certainty that Buxton will even be available for the playoffs, this just can’t be a move to go all-in. The Twins have another fireballer in Griffin Jax who throws 100+ and doesn’t walk anyone. Just keep him in mind.

Eugenio Suarez and Shelby Miller – Arizona Diamondbacks: Suarez is belting HRs and a pretty crazy pace this year, his final of team control. His splits are strange as anything. While he has power against either left or right, his average against lefties is somehow only .184 as opposed to .271 against righties (Mets just lost to the Orioles as I was typing). I guess that’s good for this team? Miller is somehow re-breaking out at age 34 and a reliever. After years of being miserable since being traded away from Atlanta, he was solid for the Dodgers 2 years ago, bad again last year for the Tigers and is now pitching to a 1.98 ERA as the closer in Arizona. WTF?

Suarez does not fit with the Phillies positionally. As a bad 3rd baseman or a good enough first baseman, you’d need to either put Schwarber in the outfield full time (yikes) or move Harper out there (desperation). A team like the Yankees has more of a need and a fit for him. How about Lourdes Gurriel then? The righty would provide a solid option in left field.

A package for Suarez and Shelby Miller would probably take Crawford and someone else but shouldn’t get to the Aiden Miller level. If it did, the answer is no. Miller and Gurriel would take less and shouldn’t be ruled out as a fallback option.

Bryan Reynolds and David Bednar – Pittsburgh Pirates: I got a lot of pushback about this hypothetical online because I offered Rojas and Abel to the Pirates along with the Walker contract. Reynolds has been bad this year and is owed a lot of money for several more years. I thought that was fair! Let’s take out Walker and throw in Kepler instead. Reynolds is owed 5/$75m and there is no way Pittsburgh wants anything to do with that. Bednar has another year of control left and is probably looking at a $10m contract next year. While those contracts are bad for the Pirates, they are reasonable for the Phillies. I don’t know if this deal makes us that much better from a hitting perspective, but we at least get a proven closer.

Jose Ramirez – Cleveland Guardians: You want to get nuts? Let’s get nuts. Ramirez is the heart and soul of the Cleveland team, but that hasn’t stopped them from trading studs before (Lindor, Cliff Lee). Ramirez is about to be 33 years old and is making $69m over the next 3 years. Painter for Ramirez straight up. That is the kind of trade that could look like a steal for Cleveland in 2 years. It’s scary to even think about. Who says no though? Throw in Clase and some other Phillies prospects too? That would be a blockbuster.

Ronald Acuna – Atlanta Braves: I’ve said it a few times, but Acuna might have the single best non-rookie contract in all of sports. If you are trading Painter, then you trade him for a guy like this. Granted it would take even more, probably Painter, Miller, and Crawford to get him, but would the Braves really say no? Their farm system is depleted and they have a broken future that is limited by their crappy corporate ownership. All 3 of these guys could be starting on the cheap sometime in 2026. They would just have to watch Acuna in red pinstripes 12 times a year. Jesus this would be a trade.

Dream Big Prediction

Phillies trade Miller and Crawford for Kwan and Clase. That still leaves us a platoon outfielder and an arm short though. From there we trade Abel for David Bednar and Johan Rojas for Luis Robert. I know, Robert stinks, but he is shockingly not terrible against lefties. He would platoon center with Marsh hitting 9th. Now you have a stud rotation with Bednar and Clase closing things down and a lineup that looks like this:

• Kwan
• Turner
• Harper
• Schwarber
• Bohm
• Castellanos
• Stott/Sosa
• Realmuto
• Marsh/Robert

That’s a World Series favorite team.